The Hindu : International / India & World : Poll outcome sparks interest in S-E Asia

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Saturday, May 15, 2004

International

International - India & World

Poll outcome sparks interest in S-E Asia

By P.S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, MAY 14. While the governments across East Asia tend to view India's latest polls as its internal affair, the results have caught the imagination of both officials and observers on three counts — the re-emergence of the Congress at the Centre, the losses suffered by leaders such as Chandrababu Naidu and S.M. Krishna at the State-level, besides the political space open to a leader born outside India.

The Congress's track record of economic reforms and engagement with South East Asia" has come in for particular notice. Alluding to this, officials in the Association of South East Asian Nations [ASEAN] indicated to this correspondent, on an informal basis, that these aspects should "encourage" the governments across the region to feel "quite positive" about the latest poll outcome in India.

Remembered, in this context, is the economic liberalisation that India embarked upon during P.V. Narasimha Rao's tenure as Prime Minister and Manmohan Singh's stewardship of the Finance Ministry.

Also being recalled is the "Look East policy," with its focus on this region, that the Congress had initiated in the 1990s. On this score, a certain continuity in India's policies is anticipated.

However, dismay has been expressed in certain official quarters over the electoral losses that the perceived champions of electronic governance and high-tech economy, like Mr. Naidu and Mr. Krishna, have suffered.

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